Manchester City vs Aston Villa Betting Pick | English Premier

English Premier

2011-10-15 - Manchester City vs Aston Villa

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Manchester City v Aston Villa
Football : English Premier League
Saturday 15 October 2011 - Kickoff 3pm

Manchester City

If my gut feeling is correct, Roberto Mancini will be sending out a side that could take over at the top of the Premier League. Manchester City may not have made the impact in the Champions League they were expecting, but they are already proving a major danger in the Premier League, even after just 7 games are played.

City are 2nd in the Premier League having picked up 19 points, and they are only behind rivals Manchester United by 1 goal. They have won all 3 League games played at the Etihad Stadium, scoring 9 goals and keeping 3 clean sheets and they are one of only two teams that have yet to concede at home.

After the Carlos Tevez affair in Munich, it may have been understandable if City suffered a slight dip in the Premier League, but they thumped Blackburn 0-4 away from home just days later. The defeat against Bayern Munich remains the only one the side have suffered in 14 games in all competitions. City have won 12 of their last 13 home games in all competitions and have conceded just 2 goals in those games.

Even with all the riches City have, they have an injury crisis up front meaning Edin Dzeko is the only fully fit forward. Mario Balotelli should overcome a back complaint, while Sergio Aguero may not be risked with the big Champions League game against Villarreal in mind which takes place on Tuesday. Carlos Tevez remains suspended and is due back in Manchester on Thursday.

However, I don't foresee goals being a problem as Samir Nasri, Dzeko and David Silva all scored for their international teams on Tuesday.

Aston Villa

Alex McLeish was becoming the target of a few of the boo-boys at Villa Park as his side had not been playing attractive football and had been failing to win games before that righted that with a 2-0 win over Wigan last time out. They have not had the toughest start to the season before this game, but they remain unbeaten.

Aston Villa are 7th in the Premier League and have gained 11 points from their first 7 games. As I said above, the problem is they have drawn 5 of those games, including all 3 they have played away from home, scoring 3 goals and conceding 3. Villa remain 1 of 4 teams that have yet to lose an away game this season.

The team had failed to win any of their previous 5 games in all competitions before beating Wigan last time out, but it was the 0-2 home defeat to Bolton in the Carling Cup that really had the fans voicing their concerns. Villa almost earned their first away win of the season against QPR in their last game away from home, but were denied by a last minute equaliser.

James Collins and Carlos Cuellar should both be available for selection, but Jermaine Jenas is out until next month, while Stephen Ireland is a doubt to face his former club. Shay Given will be hoping to impress against the side he left in the Summer.

Head to Head

Manchester City have a strong home record against Aston Villa, winning the last 5 against them in all competitions.

The last 4 home wins have all come with a bit to spare, with City winning by 2 goals or more.

City beat Villa 4-0 in the League last season, and also added a 3-0 home win on the way to winning the FA Cup.

Alex McLeish did earn a 0-0 draw here with Birmingham last season, but his side were beaten 5-1 the year before.

Prediction

I would really like Manchester City to win this game with a bit to spare if they had all their strikers available, but I still think they will be too strong for Villa as there is far too many inventive players in the midfield that will create openings.

Alex McLeish is very likely to set his Villa side up to defend deep and try and use the pace of Gabby Agbonlahor and Darren Bent on the break, but I am not so sure they will be able to keep Man City out throughout the game.

With players like Nasri, Silva, Balotelli and Dzeko, you have to expect City will get the chances during the game and an early goal could make it a very long day for Villa.

Villa have a bad record here in recent seasons, while a McLeish side was hammered here too a couple of seasons ago... City are not conceding many goals at home, so I would think if they score a couple, they should be able to clear the Asian Handicap.

There is a slight concern that City will settle for a one goal win with the game against Villarreal in mind, but they will also want a statement win ahead of the Manchester Derby next week and I think they will get that here.

The Statistics :

MAN_CITY LAST SIX HOME FORM
	DATE	RESULT		OPPOSITION
	2011-09-24	W	2-0	H v Everton
	2011-09-10	W	3-0	H v Wigan
	2011-08-15	W	4-0	H v Swansea
	2011-05-17	W	3-0	H v Stoke_City
	2011-05-10	W	1-0	H v Tottenham
	2011-05-01	W	2-1	H v West_Ham

ASTON_VILLA LAST SIX AWAY FORM
	DATE	RESULT		OPPOSITION
	2011-09-25	D	1-1	A v QPR
	2011-09-10	D	2-2	A v Everton
	2011-08-13	D	0-0	A v Fulham
	2011-05-15	W	1-2	A v Arsenal
	2011-04-30	L	2-1	A v WBA
	2011-04-16	W	1-2	A v West_Ham

HEAD TO HEAD MAN_CITY v ASTON_VILLA
DATE	HOME	SCORE	AWAY
2010-12-28	Man_City	4-0	Aston_Villa
2010-05-01	Man_City	3-1	Aston_Villa
2009-03-04	Man_City	2-0	Aston_Villa
2007-09-16	Man_City	1-0	Aston_Villa
2007-04-28	Man_City	0-2	Aston_Villa
2005-10-31	Man_City	3-1	Aston_Villa